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Charlie Neibergall/APA cellphone tower inside the bell tower is seen over the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Ankeny, Iowa.By BARBARA RODRIGUEZ

DES MOINES, Iowa -- One might be hidden in a cross on a church lawn. Others are disguised as a cactus in the desert, a silo in farm country or a palm tree reaching into a sunny sky.

Whatever the deception, the goal is the same: concealing the tall, slender cellphone towers that most Americans need but few want to see erected in their neighborhoods.

As telecommunications companies fill gaps in their networks, many have sought to camouflage the ungainly outdoor equipment that carries the nation's daily supply of calls, texts and data. It's another indication of how the industry is evolving to meet the demands of consumers who insist on ever-increasing amounts of wireless information but won't tolerate large antennas looming over their homes, parks and other beloved sites.

"Each community and each neighborhood can be different, so we really have to work on a case-by-case basis with each city and with each zoning authority," said Karen Smith, a spokeswoman for Verizon (VZ).

So-called stealth cellphone towers have been around for more than two decades and appear to be growing in popularity. They have been concealed in a wide variety of ways, including in a stop sign in New Orleans, a pine tree in Kinnelon, New Jersey, and a water tower in San Dimas, California.

Now an Iowa church wants to join the club by building a tower in the shape of a cross. It's a move that's irked some nearby residents who think the design will be too big and too out of place. It also shows how sensitive the issue can still be.

The First Presbyterian Church in Des Moines is working with Verizon to construct a tower that will be dressed up as an 11-story cross. The deal, which is being reviewed by a city zoning board, includes annual compensation to the church.

"Like a lot of churches, we have to keep each year finding ways to pay our bills," pastor Ken Stubert said. "It's an unusual church that doesn't have to worry about something like that."

Suzette Jensen said the tower's height and color wouldn't match the church's exterior, making it an instant eyesore. The pastor said that wouldn't happen.

"We pay some pretty high property taxes. We feel very strongly that it's going to be a detriment to the value of our homes," she said, adding that neighbors are considering legal action.

Scenic America, a nonprofit that works to preserve scenery along the nation's roads, has generally opposed the building of more communication towers, but the group has been more amenable to disguised designs.

"We've been in favor of disguising them if you can and you can do it well," said spokesman Max Ashburn. But even some of the disguised towers are dead giveaways.

Sometimes the attempt to cover them up actually makes it stand out more than if they just put up the tower.

"You can tell right away that they're not what they pretend to be," Ashburn said. "Sometimes the attempt to cover them up actually makes it stand out more than if they just put up the tower."

When Verizon first contacted the church last year, the company proposed standard designs for the tower. The church ultimately pushed for the cross-shaped design, which mirrors a tower outside a church in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie.

Stealth Concealment Solutions, a South Carolina-based company that offers hidden antennas and towers, has created dozens of multitasking steeples and crosses over the years.

In 1992, a BP (BP) sign at a gas station in Atlanta earned the distinction of being the first stealth cellphone tower in the country, according to the company. Designs have expanded over the years and now include a quirky pole in Liberty, Michigan, that looks like a pencil.

Cindy Wishart, a Stealth spokeswoman, said the company is constantly educating people about the industry and its possibilities.

"They always associate concealment as a tree," she said. "It's just so much more than that."

Specific data on the number of stealth towers is limited, but Stealth said it works on up to 800 projects a year. The Wireless Association, an industry trade group also known at CTIA, said the presence of towers in general around the country has dramatically increased over the years in an effort to expand coverage.

At the end of 1997, the country had just over 50,000 cell towers. By the end of 2012, the most recent year for which information is available, that number had jumped to more than 300,000.

Stubert said he was surprised by the community backlash.

"It's ridiculous," he said. "Churches put up crosses all the time that are simply crosses. This will be a cross that's also helping us to pay our bills."

Jensen said the tower should be put in another location because space outside the church is too small. In Des Moines, a minimum 10-acre lot is needed for a communication tower. The church has just over three acres.

Smith, of Verizon, wouldn't go into detail about the tower, although she did say the company chooses locations that fit within a geographic radius and meet engineering specifications.

People constantly need more data "to do all the different multimedia applications that are now part of their lives," Smith said, creating continual pressure to "add more capacity to our network to stay ahead of that demand."

You may think you're being frugal by trying to get every last month of use out of that fridge from the 1980s, but you could actually be costing yourself money. Old appliances don't run as efficiently as newer, Energy Star-rated ones, and that adds a lot to your electric bill. Invest in newer models, and they will pay for themselves soon enough.

Potential savings: $50 to $100 per year, per appliance (depending on the respective efficiency of your old/new ones).

Remember how your father used to annoy you by insisting you turn off every light in rooms you weren't in? He was onto something. The cost of leaving modern appliances running when you're not using them can add up, so stop leaving the TV on "in the background" or letting your computer hover in "sleep mode" overnight. If you're not using something, turn it off.

Water waste is a huge problem in many homes. Be mindful of how much you're using, and adjust your routines. Try taking shorter showers, only running the laundry and dishwasher when you have full loads, running your sprinklers only when needed, and not leaving the water running when you brush your teeth.

Potential savings: A few bucks to $50 or more a month, depending on your local sewer and water rates.

It can be all too easy to "set it and forget it" when it comes to heating and cooling costs. Invest in a programmable thermostat that will automatically adjust the temperature based on the times you're actually at home. Close the vents in any rooms you're not using. If you have window air conditioning units, make sure they have an "energy saver" function so they only run when needed instead of constantly.

Potential savings: $20 to $50 per month, depending on local costs and climate.

If you're big on convenience, you could be paying more to keep your house clean than you need to. For an easy switch that won't add much more time to your cleaning routine, consider switching your paper towels for reusable sponges and your disposable dusting wipes for rags and a cleaning spray.

That toilet that keeps running may seem like a minor annoyance, but small problems left unattended to can result in big problems down the line. The instant you notice something's starting to malfunction, address it. You don't want that tiny leak in your laundry room sink to turn into a flooded basement that will cost you thousands.

Potential savings: Could reach $10,000 or more if you're using that flooded basement as an example -- although that depends on what part of the bill, if any, your homeowner's insurance will cover.

Avoid expensive repairs as much as possible by keeping things in good running order year-round. Regularly clean out the vents under your fridge and in any air conditioning units. Change the lint traps in your dryer and vacuum cleaner often. Get the blades in your lawnmower sharpened each season and make sure to change the oil as needed. Have your heating ducts cleaned out annually. A little preventive maintenance can save you costly fixes and make appliances last longer.

Potential savings: $100 to $300 per year, if you can squeeze several additional years of life out of multiple appliances such as your washing machine, clothes dryer, vacuum cleaner or air conditioner.

If you pay your utility bills each month without question, you could be paying more than you need to. You'd be surprised to find how many companies are willing to negotiate on rates. Get on the phone with customer service and see what options are available. You never know unless you ask.

You're wasting more than space by holding onto those boxes of baseball cards in your attic and that shelf of old electronics you keep saying you're going to repair (but you know you never will). Save yourself cleaning time and make a little extra money by getting rid of anything you're not actively using. Garage sales, Craigslist and eBay are all great ways to turn your unwanted junk into profit.

If you recently became an empty-nester (or you bought too big a home to begin with), you could be paying for rooms you never even use. Downsizing will save on rent or mortgage payments, and it can also reduce your monthly utility costs.

Potential savings: Tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the cost of your current home, as compared with the home that you downsize into.

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Marc954

People always object to items like cell towers on the grounds that it will affect property values. People talk about this as if it were a constitutional right like voting or free speech. Where does the constitution say that people are "entitled" to price appreciation in real estate? The purchase of real estate is a risk like stocks or any other investment. One does not know what will happen to the economy, interest rates, etc. in the future. The one thing real estate has going for it is that it is a finite commodity ,i.e. they are not making any more of it. Price appreciation, though merely paper wealth, is great for the home owners, but it prices more and more people out of the market, thus widening the gap between the haves and have-nots.